Boss suspended in bank spanking row

SKY NEWS:- A Chinese bank has suspended its chairman after a motivational trainer cut off the hair of under-performing employees and smacked their bottoms.

Changzhi Zhangze Rural Commercial Bank hired a training company to run a “performance breakthrough” course, an industry watchdog reported on a government website.

Eight employees – four men and four women – who achieved low scores during the session were paraded on stage in front of colleagues while trainer Jiang Yang walked down the line and spanked their behinds with a large stick.

One employee responded with “I’m not hard on myself”, while another shouted: “I didn’t make a breakthrough!”

A third person blamed a lack of teamwork for his poor performance.

Video of the spanking has attracted both amusement and criticism on Chinese social media.

“Since when does beating employees become a way of raising performance?” asked Weibo user Denny Tangmashi.

Another declared: “They need to be beaten with a stick!”

According to reports on the Changzhi city government’s website, Mr Jiang punished employees further by cutting the women’s hair and shaving the men’s heads.

China’s banking oversight body described the session as “improper”, adding it had suspended the bank’s chairman and a deputy governor and ordered Mr Jiang to make a public apology.

Writing on his blog, the trainer absolved the bank of any responsibility.

“Spanking was a training model I have been exploring for many years,” he said.